Had a very rude and disappointing conversation with Roger oats today. Still cant believe it to be honest. They must turn away masses of business for there small collective of installers. As most know, i run the 'floorskills' training centre. Along with your every day installation course we also do apprenticeships and we also do estimating etc for architects. We get asked daily by apprentices, shops and arctices what products we recommend along with the big question " how do you keep the stripes straight on winders " Well we are aware of a couple of products but Roger oats is one we hear a few talking about but know NOTHING about. That NOTHING extends to mine and my trainers knowledge around the Roger Oats product also. So what do i do about it ? simple i guess? I obviously need technical training on the product as a minimum and better still installation training on the product so i fully understand what you can and cant do with it. After all if i have a group of architect on a course , well if they ask a question or ask me to recommend a product for a certain job i need to be able to answer the question with correct knowledge before i entertain saying "i think this product might be the answer etc" So i get on the phone to Roger Oats and ask them if they do training on install and product knowledge. Answer - Yes they do !! I ask if i can come along ? Answer - "NO" ???? why not ??? well apparently..... Answer - They will only train or offer information about there products to there dealer network. Fair enough but i dont want to fit the stuff, im after product info so i know what im talking about when i get asked . Answer - NO ! So i try a different approach, i ask if i can have minimum info then, is it a carpet, a flatweave etc? am i allowed to know the minimum info on it? Answer - NO ! O.K then , well i have a retail shop also, do you have a dealer in Birmingham? Answer - we are the nearest dealer, they would have to buy from us in Herefordshire (over 1 hour drive away) Ok, can you let me know areas you require a dealer maybe ? Answer - We decide where and who can be a dealer. O..... o.k then, so thats it then. Nice company to speak to. I feel sorry for the dealers as i have been basically told i cant recommend there product to architects etc. They must loose masses of custom for their dealer network. Funny thing was that i actually got asked about eh product only 10 minutes later, my answer was "im not allowed to recommend a certain product, but crucial trading do something similar to what your asking about.
LOL, i feel sorry for the installers that are loosing business. Maybe Roger Oats dont need any more business? soon be someone else producing a similar product. Remember when it used to be just Amtico?????
I have a similar story. someone on this forum had posted pictures which i thought looked nice so i asked him what it was. roger oats he said. id never heard of it. he said i wemt on their training course. so i rang them, explained id seen their product with another fitter and would like to go on their course. they said i cant. i said why not, they said the courses are full and are for people who display their materials and buy into their brand. I explained that I was a business and would like to be able to offer their product but I can't if I don't know how to fit it. So they passed my details onto someone else within the business but it just seemed like no go. They did send me brochures though. I looked at the prices and thought, I won't sell much anyway!
Mega pricey, last one I did was £120 linear mt at 60cm wide. There are installation guides on their website which cover most things. Microplast gripper is amazing with it.
Ye i had a read. I know a fair bit more about it than i would advice. Simply because i wont advice unless i have heard it from the manufacturer themselves. Hence i say "i know nothing about it" The instructions make me laugh tho, its says " A good fitter is essential" well if that's true then how come there are two company's on the list that i know are very poor installers? End of the day it makes no difference to me if i recommend or not, exactly what gain do i get out of it? They have told me that they wont tell me about their product and dont want me knowing about it, so its simple, this thread is the last plug that company will get on this forum and the last time i entertain telling anyone about it. Makes absolutely no difference to me. Im all about helping the installer, consumer and the architect. If they dont want their product talked about then so be it.
Done some for a friend that had the carpet te come fed to them buy there architect. Seemed way over priced for what it was. We actually spoke to the shop in Chelsea harbour and ordered the carpet from them. None of our reps had ever seen anything like it so couldn't math unfortunetly.
Saw some samples of roger oats the other day. It kind of reminded me of bath towels me nan used to ave ..
So they sold direct to you? But they had no interest in giving me any sort install training let alone product training, obviously they dont think my retail shop is good enough to supply or fit the product as i question becoming a retailer. Instead they expect people to drive over 1 hour to see the samples.
The shop in Chelsea harbour did yes. It wasn't me directly as I deal with mainly the karndean but I know we couldn't get it anywhere. One of our reps tracked it down to them and we phoned direct and spoke with them. They wanted £250 to deliver it to us 50 miles away, so we just sent our guy up to get it
I fit the stuff at least a couple of times a month,as far as i know the shop that i do some work for,they rang Roger Oates,asked for an account and got one.once you have the account you can send your fitters up on the training day. The shop will get enquiries from customers who get your address as the nearest supplier to them,not only do they buy the roger oates but we have got to supply the rest of the house in carpets and wood also,so its a very good account to have,i would say that it has brought in a very good amount of work over the last couple of years. Very expensive yes....but so are some of the other products that i have fitted over the years. In all the times that i have dealt with the company over the last 10 years or so i can say that i have never had a fault in anything they send and thay have always been very pleasant to deal with
@ Kevin. It was you who put me onto them. The way it came across to me, if you have a shop in the right area for them, they will set up an account and like he said if I have their products displayed and buy into their brand, they would put you on the course. I just wanted to know how to fit it, if I was asked. If you can be selective and still do well, you will. This brand is for shops like Chelsea and Kensington, not south all.
for me as a training center training architects and fitters on planning and estimating and suggested products etc they have done themselves or should i say their directory of fitters out of a lot of work / money. As i have been told not to discuss there product as i dont know nothing about it (the reason why i phoned them to inquire about it and to ask for product training) i will simply not be discussing the product or recommending it etc to them. There is plenty of other 'unique' products out there i can recommend instead that i do know about. As i have said before, i wont discuss a product on a course or on here that i dont know the in's and out's about, i personally go on every course out there and send my staff on courses all the time so i and my staff are fully up to date and hopefully they can answer any question asked. The Roger Oats collection when im asked about it will simply be changed to another discussion about a similar product. What else can i do? They have shoved me in a corner regarding their product.
